Can a Low Voice Help Your Election Chances?

If you’re running for office, you may want to lower your voice — new research reveals voters respond more positively to deep-voiced politicians.

In the study, a group of men and women listened to recordings of both high and low-pitched voices saying, “I urge you to vote for me this November.”

The results showed that regardless of political beliefs or the speaker’s gender, people more likely to “elect” the candidates whose voices were lower-pitched.

“We often make snap judgments about candidates without full knowledge of their policies or positions. These findings might help explain why,” said Rindy Anderson, a biologist at Duke University.

“It’s clear that our voices carry more information than the words we speak,” she added. “Knowing this can help us understand the factors that influence our social interactions and possibly why there are fewer women elected to high-level political positions.”